Fill In The Blank Friday

I'll keep it short & sweet today -- I'm counting the minutes til I'm out of here

for belated Christmas dinner with family! Meaning....BROTHER IS HOME!!

 

1. New Years is a time to reflect on the past year's events, & prepare for the upcoming year's adventures!

2.  One of my New Year's resolutions will be to lose some weight gained this year & commit to drinking primarily ONLY water.  Sometimes I get sidetracked & down WAY more pop/etc than I should!

3.  A New Year's resolution I've made in the past was to learn a new language...which I haven't done. But I think Ike & I want to learn one this year...would be pretty fun!

4. The most time consuming resolution I ever made was -- uhhh, I have no idea...

5.  This year I will be spending New Year's Eve at a football game in WA during the day & then with my family at my Gran's cabin at the WA coast. It'll be nice to be together & in her house...I've really missed her this Christmas/New Years season...

6.  If I could wish one thing for my new year it would be  to retain control of my emotions at work -- I let others have too much power/influence over me & it's exhausting.

7.  2012 is going to be a year of change, I can feel it.  

*Hubby is applying for a head football coach job at my alma mater -- crossing my fingers & saying my prayers.

Happy New Years Friends! 

Enjoy time with those you love & be safe!

<3

I'm Back....and Alive!

Dear Friends! I so apologize for my absence this past week or so!  Prepping for vacation, early birthday celebrations & then time in Hawaii were my total focus these last two weeks.

It was so nice to enjoy my birthday with husband in Waikiki this year -- a special treat! We even treated ourselves to private pool cabana chairs at the adult pool! Thank you Sheraton Waikiki for this ingenious perk! Reserved it for the whole day....do you know how hard it is to get good pool chairs & hold on to them all day?! Especially in Waikiki! And the weather was pretty nice to us during the trip, just a few rain showers a couple days -- but then we had a BEAUTIFUL Christmas day at the North Shore! Tried to take some more photos this trip - and finally jumped on the Instagram train...so some of them are tinted that way!

Pool Chairs for my birthday!

Our view for the day! Beautiful Diamond Head

Driving to hike Diamond Head w/ our buddy Nate

 

 View towards Waikiki & downtown from Le'ahi (Diamond Head)

  Post hike snack....hot malasadas at the famous Leonard's Bakery!

Ike hold our niece Zaylee on Christmas eve -- such a happy, smiley baby!

One of three turtles that came on shore Christmas day!

Mele Kalikimaka?? Cousin Makoa

Christmas Day North Shore style!

 Ike painted large Hanafuda (Japanese card game) cards for his cousins & aunt!

Isaac & the women in his life! MIL Sheila, Grandma Chiko, & Me

Merry (late) Christmas from the Parkers!

It was a nice trip, had good opportunities to visit with cousins Reid & Kim, Isaac's dad & step-dad.  We both are thankful for family, and for non-touristy vacations sometimes.  Christmas in Hawaii is different (from food, to weather & more) but it's Isaac's first home & so we are thankful for time together & time with extended family!

Hope you all enjoy this week & New Year's weekend! I'll snap some photos of my family -- little brother is headed home TODAY(yaaaaaaaay)! And so we're headed to my Gran's cabin in WA to ring in the New Year and be together. So looking forward to quality time!

<3

Fill-In-The-Blank Friday!

Well dear friends -- I am a mere 3 days away from leaving on a jet plane to the beautiful island of O'ahu....  Words right now can't quite explain my excitement for a break from "real" life.  My profile picture is of Isaac & I last year & let me tell you, I can't wait to see sunsets like that again!

But for now......on to the blanks, provided by Lauren at the little things we do who faithfully provides each week! Thanks Lauren!

1.  My most favorite "little thing" is crashing on the couch on a Sunday afternoon, curled up in my favorite fleece blanket & napping.


2.  I'd give anything to travel the world for 6 months with no fear of how my "real" life would be handled/affected.


3.  I can't believe how blessed I am to be married to Isaac.  Had a nice dinner with one of his players the other night who's a senior & headed off to a Pac-12 school next fall.  Probably one of the nicest, most thoughtful kids we've known in a long time -- and probably one of the most mis-understood as well. But my honey Isaac is incredible and connected with him.  This kid wrote a letter to Isaac that brought us both to tears & reminded me that the sacrifices made in the fall for these kids are so, very much worth it. The seeds Isaac is sowing with them may not bloom right away -- but they're worth it.  These kids are worth it. And I'm blessed to be married to an incredible man who loves those kids for who they are, not just what they do on a football field.


4.  The one thing I'd like to achieve today is  wrapping Isaac's Christmas presents!! I've been delaying....


5.  The last thing I want to do today is fold our remaining laundry....becoming one of my least favorite things to do.  But we need clean clothes for vacation! Oh...and tidying up around the house. 


6.  If I were writing my own blank today, it would say "What are 2 lessons you're parents taught you that you'll always remember/pass forward?"


7.  My favorite candle scent is I know it sounds lame but there's a Glade Hawaiian scent one that I love love love....and anything harkening towards French vanilla... :)


<3

Lightin' Up

A short & sweet thought today for all the parents & Scrooges out there.... Lightin' up already about Christmas!

I find it perfectly OK to let kids believe in Santa Claus, while also focusing primarily on the birth of Christ as the real joy of this season.  Why do people find it necessary to just suck the joy out of the season for kids.  I am by NO means leaning towards the side of the fence where you spoil kids rotten with every flippin' toy they ask for.  But can we exercise a bit of balance please??

Telling little kids that Santa isn't real just seems mean in my opinion.  Let them enjoy that season in their life....teach them the main focus of this time of year is the Lord, teach them that there are those who receive nothing & so to be generous, teach them to be giving & kind during this time of year.

Best believe my kids will see a present under our tree each year specifically from Santa, and bite or two taken out of the cookies left for him.

Thoughts?
<3

Random thoughts...

Tonight Honey Isaac & I gave my parents their Christmas gift.  Now before you gasp in horror at the thoughts of a Christmas gift given this early, let me explain...  My mom is pretty sensitive to the fact that Isaac & I are still early in our marriage & trying our darndest to pay off debt, save for future babies, and are traveling to beautiful but expensive Hawaii in a week.  So for the 3rd Christmas in a row they haven't asked for traditional gifts.  Rather she & my dad have asked to spend time with us or do something special or specific for the season.  This year my mom spent 2 weeks on vacation in Mexico (1st time she's EVER done this) and was totally stressed about getting & decorating their tree.


So for their Christmas gift, my mom & dad asked us to pick up their Christmas tree, get it set up & then decorate it for them.  We picked up the tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving, in TRUE Christmas babe style (did I mention that my birthday is in 9 days???).  But then we waited to decorate until they were both home.  Well tonight we mosey-ed over to their house & decorated their tree.  It was fun to be with my parents again.  I'd seen my dad over the last few days - but it's always so funny and entertaining watching he & mom together.  


Sometimes I feel really guilty that that is our Christmas "gift" -- but then I remember why my mom asks for things like that & I'm grateful.  Grateful for an understanding momma, grateful that my parents don't EVER put pressure on us to wow them with material things, and grateful that I have a husband who loves being with my parents as much as they love being with him (have I ever mentioned that I sometimes wonder if they love him more than me???....hmm....).  We even had dinner together & my aunt joined.  It was a peaceful, enjoyable night.  And I'm so thankful that my parents don't make us feel like we have to shower them with un-ending amounts of gifts to show our love & appreciation for them. They're incredible blessings to us.


How do you handle gifts for parents??


And not to rub it in or anything -- but in one week I will be in beautiful, wonderful, warm, friendly, relaxing Hawaii for vacation! Can not wait -- after two weeks without my mom in the office I am beyond ready for some down time.  We'll be spending a couple days in Waikiki for my birthday & then the rest of the time with Isaac's family. Which will be nice -- we've been able to see them more than usual this year & it'll be nice to cap off the year with time in Hawaii again.  It's crazy how the time flies.  It seems like we were just in Hawaii with all of Isaac's family celebrating Christmas, digging for sand crabs & relaxing by the sea on Christmas day.  But here we find ourselves again, preparing for the anxiety of flying standy-by during the holidays & preparing to be with family.  I always tend to miss my family functions at Christmas -- but I know how much it means to be in Hawaii at Christmas for Isaac & so we go.  


Hope you preparing for Christmas in your own way also. Remember the reason for this joyous season -- the birth of our Saviour King, Christ Jesus!
<3

Fill-In-The-Blank Friday

Last day with my mom out of the office.  Kind of ready to have her back -- even though she drives me batty most of the time.

Thanks as always to Lauren at the little things we do for the blanks!

1. Love is a choice & a daily decision.  Yes feelings are associated, but when it comes to true, consistent, complete love -- that must be chosen. It's a verb, not simply a noun

2.  Being in love feels like excitement, adrenaline & a pinch of fear all at the same time!

3. My favorite quote about love is "Love me when I least deserve it because that is when I really need it" -- Swedish Proverb

4. The most important thing in a relationship is trust & communication.  Yes I gave 2 -- but they are so closely tied together. Ike and I are probably what some would say "over share-ers" but that's how we roll.  Full disclosure, share everything gently & ALWAYS be kind to one another even when it's hard

5. A "deal breaker" for me in a relationship is someone who is not trustworthy

6. The way I show love in my relationship is time & words of affirmation. And Ike loves to have his head, arms, & palms scratched. So I give in to those as well :)

7. I love my honey, my happy Hawaiian, my football coach, the man who would swim thru a sea of sharks to bring me a lemonade.

That was fun to get to think about all the different ways & reasons why I love Isaac. He's one of a kind I'll tell you what! I can not wait until the day that we have kids so they can see what a wonderful husband to be or to look for. Ahh...blessed :)

<3

Christmas Card Photo

So about 2 weeks ago Ike & I had our photos taken for our Christmas card.  Last year I bought these super cute cards off Etsy....but quickly found that it took so much time writing out all these messages, and vowed to do photo cards the next year.  Thankfully I remembered this vow & got set up with a new friend of ours.


She's trying to start a little business, mom of 2 precious little girls -- and so we felt really good about scheduling with her.  We weren't looking for anything fancy; not really our style.  And in typical Oregon fashion, the weather was BEAUTIFUL alllllllll week -- that is until Sunday.  The day of our photo "shoot."  So with the rain coming down we had to get creative.  Insert standard rain coats & umbrellas.  Oh...and our giant black lab Boston.


Here are a few:

I only wish I didn't have my hood on! :)

This one made the official Christmas card

Quick little smooch

I've said it before & I'll say it again -- my husband is a BIG kid sometimes! :)

All in all it was a fun afternoon with my husband & our dog -- regardless of the rain.  I'm a true Oregonian, so I wasn't fazed a bit!  We've already got the cards in hand, most of them addressed.  The next big step is hitting up the post office....always my least favorite part.  

Do you send Christmas cards? What's your favorite way to send them, favorite design site?

<3

Christmas Spirit

I likely say this every year...well every year since Isaac and I have been together...but I've been having a hard time getting in to the whole Christmas/Holiday spirit.  Yes we have our tree up. Yes I listen to Christmas music most of the day.  Yes we have our stockings hung.  And yes we even have our ornaments purchased.  But beyond that I don't have much energy for anything else.


I try not to be envious of all these posts & pictures of everyone gearing up for the holiday.  Perhaps my attitude has changed a little bit over the last few years.  We used to travel over holidays frequently as a family -- but now it's just Isaac & I.  And so it's tough to get my house and head in the right mind frame for Christmas when I know we're going to actually be spending Christmas day on the beach.  Sure I know that sounds glamorous, and it is a bit -- but it's still a far cry from what I was used to.  And I'm not even sure how to remediate it.... Hmm...suggestions?


In the mean time I'm also focused on keeping my head above water over these last few days that mom is gone.  It's been crazy yesterday & today -- crazy to the point of tears I'm sad to say.  I'm not proud of that at all, but that has been my reality...  Plus I just miss my momma & am ready for her to be home.  


<3

Fill In The Blank Friday

I've got nothing pithy to share today -- I've run 3 days this week thus far, so that feels pretty good.  Looking to slim down a bit more before Hawaii...we'll see how this goes!  And headed to a Gala of Trees event tonight with my honey in a whole new outfit! Definitely looking forward to that.  Except I wish I knew what to do with my flippin' hair.  Oh well, I'll figure something out.  

Thanks to Lauren at the little things we do for the blanks!

 1.  The holiday season is a time to be with family, enjoying the real reasons for the season. And a time to share kindness & warmth with those around you.

2. Snow makes me indifferent? I like looking at the snow from the safety & warmth of my house.  I don't jump for joy about it, but I'm not bah-humbug about it either. I'm not afraid to drive in it, though I absolutely hate all the scaredy cats or dare devils who drive like idiots in it!

3. The best comfort food to eat when it's cold out is grilled cheese & homemade tomato soup.... OR my grandma's famous cheese bread

4. Winter is the best time for  bundling up in all my favorite cozy items. Sweat pants, slippers, long sleeves, vests, sweatshirts, etc

5. I can hardly wait for  Birthday & Christmas in Hawaii -- a nice tradition we're forming!

6. When it comes to holiday gifts I prefer to shop for organizations like Angel Tree (need to pick up that basketball for our kid!) or Toys for Tots

7. If I were to rate my excitement about the holiday season on a scale from 1-10, I would say I am about a 7 or 8 -- It's always a little odd when you travel to sunny/warm places during the holiday season when you're used to cold, crisp, grey.  But it's getting easier with each year to get excited about spending Christmas day on a beach, eating kalbi ribs & rice.  I always seem to have a hard time getting motivated to decorate my house.  The tree ALWAYS goes up, but the rest of it...I can't seem to quite pull everything out.  But I AM excited about post Christmas family dinner when my brother is home! Can't wait!!

Alright -- back to maintaining the office while Mom is gone.  It's been a little hectic, but I'm pretty proud of how my buddy Eric & I have maintained everything.

Have a wonderful weekend friends!

<3